What once there was
by Hahen
Summary: [Beware of the Yaoiness]How much does it take to change a person?I SUCK at summaries.


_**Hahen:** … and for my first trick, I bring you the start of something I'm desperately trying to write. Yaoi pairing, but I'm not telling who's who. Although once you figure out one character, the other is obvious. Well, kinda. _

_At any rate, it won't be your first guess. Although I doubt there's enough here to guess on, anyway._

_I am also hopless with titles, in case you haven't guessed! And summaries. So, it's a miracle you've gotten this far! Enjoy!_

**Chapter 1**

Something was going on.

His eyes remained closed, trying to distinguish sound from panicked sound from… running footsteps, running past and past his cell over and over again, the noise multiplying in his head from a few to a dozen, a hundred, a thousand pairs of booted feet and past that… past all that noise there was… there were alarms… shouting. Shouting. Frightened, shouting people, running away from something they had been alerted to. So much noise, so much noise in his head, too much...

"What'cha going to do?" He groaned his response, eyes drifting open and finding themselves trained on the floor. The restraints prevented him from hitting the floor, his feet secured by metal clamps, and his arms chained up. He knew this. He hauled himself to his feet using the chains, his arms shaking from the strain. It was cold. His clothes hung in tatters and he just wanted to sleep… just wanted…

"…stronger than this… stronger…"

"Yes, that's right, you are, so what are you gonna do now?" The voice sounded over his mantra… mocking him? He didn't know. "All right, try this one. What would Heero do?"

"…wouldn't have let himself get caught."

"Fair enough. And Duo?"

"Lock picks… he'd be long gone by now."

"What about Trowa?" He didn't even know what he was going to do.

"Quatre?" He squinted through the dark at his boots…

"Wu Fei?" His boots…

"Well?" Maybe…

"How would a Gundam pilot get out of this?"

He started struggling, kicking his legs, all the while listening to the voices outside the cell, to the shouts mingling one into the next… memories, too, he felt sure… almost sure… he heard the word Gundam. Attacking. The place is gonna hit the floor. Get out.

He managed to kick his feet free of his boots, glad that the sturdy leather didn't allow much space for the restraints to be tightened. He found the floor with his feet, biting back a cry of pain. Some wounds felt like they'd reopened, but that didn't matter. What mattered was fighting off his drugged stupor enough to get out of this place. So many people he needed to see… needed to sleep, to rest, when he got back… what now?

"You're still chained."

"I'm… I'm aware of that…"

"So what are you going to do?"

"Let me THINK!" He tilted his head back, trying to calm down. Pulled at the chains, pulled like he had before, so many times. If he could get to the top… break the links from there… he was light, but he was also desperate.

He was already climbing, not concerned whether he would be strong enough or not, repeating his affirmation over and over.

"I'm a Gundam pilot… I'm stronger than this… I'm strong… Gundam pilot… I'm stronger… I can…" Closing his eyes, he braced his legs against the wall, hauling himself up that way, pulling, slipping occasionally but forcing himself on.

"Took you long enough" Was his only reward for reaching the ceiling. He allowed ignored the voice, moving his feet up, and starting to pull again, yanking the chains. They were creaking. He could feel they were rusted; weakened.

"I can…" – and suddenly… he was falling. The chains were jangling; free, loose, and he was…

"GET YOUR LEGS UNDER YOU!" He obeyed the panicked cry without a thought, quickly righting himself and landing on his feet, staggered and fell into a wall sliding down it, breathing hard; his abused chest aching. "There's no time for that, damn it!"

"…don't care…"

"You can rest later, you have to get out!" He cracked open an eye, wishing he could see his companion's face through the dark, but knew he couldn't. Sighing in resignation and exhaustion he got to his feet.

The door was open – probably unlocked as part of security procedure –the corridor outside it was empty. He moved on, focussed on keeping going and, through sheer luck more than anything else, soon found the hangar, stumbling aboard the only shuttle available.

"Almost there…" He mumbled to himself; filling the silence left after his companion's disappearance. He'd be back soon enough, probably when he didn't want him.

Collapsing into the pilot's seat, he sealed the hatch he had come in by, and initiated the pre-flight checks. The main control panel, he noticed, was supported by a series of metal bars almost the diameter of his wrist running beneath it. This old thing was at least thirty years old – a rust bucket.

He gave a grim smile. "I just hope it'll get me home in one piece…"

_**Hahen:** I'm sorry it's short. It's not meant to be. Basically it's just a test to see if anyone will read it!_

_Now that sounded pathetic. But here's something even MORE pathetic._

_**PLEASE REVIEW!** You'd make my day, and help to feed my starving children._

Plus you can submit your guesses, and if you're right, you'll actually have proof that you are, signed and dated and… yeah, I'll be going now.


End file.
